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"There are certainly signs that some of the hesitation is subsiding," she said. "It has been a rocky path for people. It's been hard for three to four years."

But she said businesses had adapted to the the hard times and were now coming out of it in a good position.

"[They are] saying we have gone through that and done quite well. We are having more conversations with customers about their future."

It also increased its total share of the rural lending market after securing its largest ever share of June 1 farm settlements.

Deposits grew by 7 per cent to $38.975 billion outpacing its lending while the bank also saw a reduction in its impairment costs.

Impairment losses on loans fell 35 per cent from $72 million to $47 million during the year mainly driven by the non-recurrence of the Christchurch earthquake provision recorded in the prior year.

Chapman said she expected impairment costs to rise over the next year as they were now at a historic low.

ASB's operating costs were flat over the year rising just 1 per cent to $737 million.

Chapman said there had been a small reduction in staff over the last year of fewer than 150 people.

The bank has over 4750 staff in total.

Massy University banking expert David Tripe said the bank appeared to have done well but it was difficult to undertake a full analysis of the results because they were split off from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and did not include a full set of financials.

Tripe said ASB's deposit figures also did not appear to be consistent with the bank's disclosure documents which showed as of March 31 the bank had over $40 billion in deposits.